Clichéd Love Lines
by Opal Irises
Summary: Ryan married Theresa, but seven years on he moves back to Newport. Marissa is finally getting on with her life...Can she accept the fact that Ryan is in her world again? [RyanMarissa] [On temporary Hiatus]
1. Till death do us part

**DISCLAIMER - Sadly, I own nothing. If my plan to marry Adam Brody fails, I will settle for Josh Schwartz. Therefore I will have a share in The OC. **

**A/N – Yes, yes, I know that it's short, but it's just an introduction. Enjoy. :)**

"It's yours Ryan."

The words pounded fiercely into his skull, engraving the words into his brain, yet the meaning not coming through. He stood there silently.

"Ryan? It's yours."

He opened his mouth to speak, but his lips were dry, and no words came out. Sounds crackled out, but made no real meaning.

It was his.

The baby was his.

He licked his lips so that he could speak…

"I…I heard you. I can't believe it. I don't want to believe it."

"Believe it Ryan." Said Theresa in a monotone. Her face was expressionless, and her voice almost seemed like she was as upset as Ryan. But it was all a lie. Beyond her face were eyes gleaming with intent and happiness. The baby was Ryan's.

And now Ryan was hers.

"Do you, Theresa Sanchez, take this man, Ryan Atwood, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?"

Theresa beamed at Ryan. He didn't return the smile, and as she looked into his eyes, she saw he didn't want that.

Now was the only time she could change it. She could run away, screaming at him,

"Go back Ryan. Go back to Newport. The baby's not even yours! I lied to you Ryan. Because I wanted you so badly."

But she couldn't do that. He would hate her forever if she told him the truth…

"I do." She said.

"And do you, Ryan Atwood, take this woman, Theresa Sanchez, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?"

Till death do you part?

The words screamed themselves at Ryan.

Till death do you part?

Death could be better then this, he thought.

Till death do you part?

Kill me now.

But he looked into her eyes. She knew the truth. He didn't love her. But he loved his daughter. And he had to do this…for her.

"I…do."

The words had been said. The damage had been done.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife."

Fantastic, thought Ryan.

"You may kiss the bride."

Theresa leaned in to kiss him, but at the last minute, he turned his head and lightly pecked her cheek.

Theresa sighed. She thought she might have been able to actually get a proper kiss out of his. They were married now, after all. She shuddered to think of their wedding night together. It would be nothing that she imagined.

Ryan looked at his new wife. Wife.

Theresa.

He had always imagined that his wife would be Marissa. He had dreamed of it…But those dreams had well and truly disappeared.

The cuts had been made, and they were deep.

"Till death do us part…"

**A/N – Well that's the first chapter. As you may have guessed, Theresa has lied to Ryan (grrr).**

**Next time, it shows the life Ryan is living with Theresa, and how Marissa is doing without him…that is if I should continue? R&R please, and tell me!**


	2. I'll take care of mummy

**DISCLAIMER – Nothing. Zilch. Nil. Nada. Zero. You get the picture. **

"Theresa?" Ryan rolled over to look at her. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was heavy. He mouth was open, and from where he lay, her breath reeked of alcohol. She said nothing to his words.

"Theresa?" he tried again. "THERESA!"

This time she moved. She closed her mouth and opened her eyes slightly.

"Ryyan…" she said. Her speech was slurred. "Whaddya waaant?"

"Where have you been?" he demanded. "You were out until 2.00 last night! You probably woke up Chrissie…" He thought of Chrissie and lowered his voice. He didn't want her to hear mummy and daddy fighting.

"Oh Ryan," she said, laughing. It was a horrible, drunken laugh. "I was just having a bit of fuun! God knows you don't like fun…"

"I don't want FUN Theresa!" Ryan told her. "I just want to look after my daughter! That's all."

At his words, Theresa immediately felt bad. Chrissie wasn't even his daughter…But she was the only reason he stayed.

She didn't reply, and he just looked at her in disgust. "I'm having a shower," he said, and got out of bed.

Theresa sighed. Damn him, she thought, and fell asleep again.

Ryan stripped his clothes off and stepped into the shower. The hot water scorched his skin, and he winced, but did nothing. He was used to the pain. As the water droplets cascaded down his body, he closed his eyes and thought about his life…and what he had become.

Seven years on, Ryan Atwood was a successful lawyer, a public defendant…Just like Sandy. His baby was a beautiful girl named Chrissie. She was the only reason that his marriage to Theresa would hold up…But if it kept going like it was, Theresa heading dangerously downhill…He wasn't sure that even the love of an innocent girl could keep them together.

Theresa had been going out and getting drunk every night, returning home in the early hours of morning. Probably fucking some guys she didn't even know, thought Ryan bitterly. But he was beyond caring for her. All her cared for was Chrissie.

He got out of the shower and dried himself, wrapping a towel around his waist. As he entered the bedroom, he saw Theresa had fallen asleep again, her mouth open and snoring nosily.

"Jesus Christ!" he exclaimed. He had an important meeting to go to today…and Chrissie had to go to school. He put on his best work suit and ran to Chrissies room.

He softly opened the door in case she was still asleep, but instead he found her, wide-awake, sitting cross-legged on her bed.

"Morning sweetie," he said.

"Daddy," she started, her eyes looking wistfully at him. "Where you and mummy fighting?"

Ryan's heart sunk. She had heard them. He sighed and sat down next to his daughter.

"You know even grown-ups fight sometimes sweetie," he said, pushing a strand of her dark hair behind her ears. "Mummy and daddy just have a few problems."

"Are you getting a divorce?" The young girl looked into Ryan's eyes, her lips quivering.

Ryan bit his tongue. What could he tell her? No, no, of course not baby, your mummy and I love each other? That was a lie. And as much as it would have made Chrissie feel better, he couldn't lie to her. So he told her the most truthful thing he knew…

"I don't know sweetie,"

Chrissie nodded, her dark, wide eyes sad. Her mummy and daddy had fights a lot. They would probably get a divorce.

Ryan smoothed Chrissie's hair. "You have to get ready now baby,"

"But it's early…" started Chrissie. "Mummy's taking me to school later,"

Ryan shook his head. 'I'm taking you to school today."

As Chrissie was about to step out of the car, she looked at Ryan and said:

"Will mummy pick me up today?"

Ryan nodded. "I'll make sure she does. I'm going to be gone for a few days, you know that right?"

Chrissie nodded. "I'll take care of mummy,"

She said it with a proud voice, but it made Ryan's heart hurt. Why should this poor little seven year old girl have to take care of her own mother? It should be the other way round.

But he nodded and kissed her forehead. "Thank you," he said.

She kissed his smooth cheek. "Bye, bye daddy. I love you,"

He looked at her. "I love you too sweetie."

She hopped out of the car and waved to him. As he drove away, he took his hand of the wheel in a small wave. She looked so young and small, but she had the heart and soul of an adult. It's what happened when you grew up in Chino, with a mother like Theresa. She was a survivor.

Sometimes Ryan wondered why she looked nothing like him. Dark eyes and dark hair, nothing about her bore any resemblance to him. Ryan shrugged. He guessed she just looked like her mother.

Ryan turned his gaze to the road ahead. He had a very important business meeting that afternoon…

At Newport.


	3. You can't bury memories

**DISCLAIMER – I don't own the OC, the OC characters, or any OC related products. Well, I own products, but I don't own them…Um, you know what I mean. I think**

**A/N – I know its very short. This is just a brief view of Marissa's current life.**

**-------------------**

He hadn't thought too much when he found out he would be going to Newport. Sure, it'd be great to see the place again. Bu he probably wouldn't see any of the people he was once so close to. Seth and Summer probably moved away. He may be able to see Sandy and Kirsten again. He doubted that they had moved away. Marissa…Marissa was probably a famous model, or an actress. Living the high life in somewhere like New York. All that had remained of him would have left her. She would be well and truly over **him **by now. She might even be married…

**-------------------**

Marissa Cooper rolled over in her bed, facing the man next to her. His hair was dark and shaggy, falling lightly over his eyes. He hadn't shaved for a few days, but she just thought that the stubble made him look oh-so-sexy. She kissed him lightly, loving the scratchy feeling she got. He blinked.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," she said softly. "Go back to sleep baby."

She kissed her. "No, I'm glad I woke you up. Now I can look at you."

She smiled at how sweet he was.

"How does it feel, your first day as my fiancé?"

"It feels great!" she told him truthfully, brushing his shaggy hair out of his eyes.

He kissed her lips lightly. "I'm going to have a shower." He told her. As he got out of bed and headed towards the bathroom. She sighed contently and lay back on the large, plush bed, staring at the white ceiling. She closed her eyes and listened to the gentle waves lull against the sand. Her life was finally going right. Almost a year of depression after…well, she didn't like to think about that anymore. It just dragged up bad memories. Then she met Kurt. He was perfect. He helped her through her depression and drinking, where **other **people didn't…She finished school and went to college. Now she was a psychiatrist. Her friends and family liked to joke about her job, seeing as how she had used to visit so many. But that stage of her life was over. Now she was living the perfect life, with the perfect job, engaged to the perfect man. Well…maybe not perfect. But almost.

Deep in her daydream, she didn't hear the bathroom door open. When she opened her eyes, she saw a man, hair brushed back, towel wrapped around his waist.

"Ryan?"

"Who's Ryan honey?"

Kurt's voice knocked the vision of Ryan out of her head. For a few seconds, he had just looked like Ryan.

Kurt came up to her and wrapped his still damp arms around her.

"Oh, just a guy I used to know. You reminded me of him for a second."

"He wasn't as good looking as me now was he?" Kurt whispered into her ear.

She laughed, not because of what he said, but because his voice tickled her ear. She didn't reply to his question. She truly had no idea of the answer. So instead, she kissed him. Maybe he would take that as a yes.

"I'll take that as a yes." He got up to finish getting dressed.

Marissa stared at him. She didn't know how she could ever think he was Ryan.

She was over Ryan. He was part of her past. Kurt was her future.

But you couldn't completely bury memories.


	4. You don't know me at all

**DISCLAIMER – Oh yeah, the day I own the OC, is the day pigs fly. Oohh look!! Little piggy's with wings, flying right past my window!! That's my wishful thinking.**

**A/N – To ocRM4eva…it has been seven years…it mentions it in the summary, and it also says Chrissie is 7. Therefore, 7 years, u know. ;) And I left out where Marissa lived? Silly me, a bit light headed last night. The words "Newport mansion" should have been mentioned in there. I thought I put them in. Oops, silly me.**

**------------------**

Ryan sat in the coffee shop, sipping his coffee slowly. Ow. Hot. It scorched his lips. He remembered when he used to come to this coffee house with Seth. And Marissa. Theresa had worked here once…

He sighed. It was like he couldn't think about Marissa without a thought of Theresa pushing itself into his mind. He would have liked to remember some of his nice memories with Marissa. But he must be well and truly over her by now. He put his coffee cup to his lip and took a careful sip. He could stay here all day if he wanted. His meeting had been postponed until tomorrow, so he had nothing to do for the rest of the day. He had been debating whether or not to drop past the Cohen's house, but he had decided against it. He'd just…hang by himself all day.

Marissa walked into the coffee shop, her head down, staring at her black shoes. Counting her steps. One two, one two, one two…

"Skim latte," she muttered to the waitress, barley lifting her head. Her day had started off good, but before the morning was over, she had ripped her jacket, her best receptionist had quit, and three patients had cancelled out. Less money for her. And she needed the money now. She had a wedding to pay for…

She grabbed her coffee off the counter and took a large swig. It was boiling hot and she would have spat it all over the old man behind her, if she wasn't in too much of a rush to notice. She gulped down the caffeine and took another swig. She needed it.

Ryan got up. He couldn't hang around the coffee house all day. And it was just starting to fill up. As he started walking he kept his head down, staring at his feet. He didn't want to look up, in case he bumped into someone he used to know. There was always a chance of that around here. It seemed like everywhere you went, someone you knew was right around the corner. No chance of privacy. He probably should have raised his head then. He would have seen the woman coming towards him…

But he didn't, and the collided. He jerked his head up in shock. When he looked down, he saw a slim woman her head looking down at her clothes. He had spilt his coffee all over her.

"What the fuck…"

"I'm so sorry." He said, offering his hand to help her. But her head was still down, her dirty blonde hair all over the place.

He might have expected a, that's OK, or a, no problem, it was my fault too, but instead the woman exclaimed:

"This was my new shirt! Crap. And my jacket…well I guess I already broke it. But my shirt!"

Ryan was shocked at her attitude. He liked it. She was the kind of I-don't-take-no-crap girl that he desired. And there was something strange about her voice too. It was very determined. And it sounded a bit like someone else's. Someone he used to know…

The woman raised her head and picked herself up without any help from Ryan. That was when he got a clear view of his face.

"_Marissa?"_

"Yeah, and who the fuck are…" she asked, still brushing herself off, staring at the horrible coffee stain, bam on the middle of her chest. "Ryan?" The determined look disappeared, replaced by confusion.

They just stared at each other, saying nothing. Memories from seven years ago ran through Marissa's brain. Back then, she had hoped she would see him again. One day. But not like **this. **Not **now. **After so long…

"Marissa? Um. Hi!"

"Hi," she said. She had no emotions in her voice. She couldn't decide what to feel. Pieces of her wanted to hate him, hate the lying, cheating bastard for leaving her when she needed him. But other pieces just wanted to forgive him. It wasn't his fault. He hadn't wanted it anymore then she had…right?

"So…how are you? After so long. I…" but Ryan's words were cut of by Marissa's lips, passionate and hard. As they pulled apart, he lowered his head and whispered, "What the hell are you _doing??"_

"Kissing you, you idiot." Marissa stated simply. "So what?"

So what? Ryan asked himself the very same question. They hadn't seen each other for seven years. Maybe a bit of her still loved him. Just a tiny bit. Or maybe she just wanted excitement. And he wasn't one to turn excitement down.

-----------------------

He pushed her down on the bed, wearing nothing but her bra and panties. She lay on top of her in only his boxers, kissing her passionately. He started to kiss down her chest, unclipping her bra, releasing her breasts. He licked them, kissed and bit them softly. He loved the feel of bare skin against his own. She removed her panties. She was bare. Now it was his turn. She released the elastic on his boxers, pulling them down his knees, throwing them off the bed. She bit his neck, and sent a long trail of kisses down his chest. He pushed her against the wall, thrusting himself into her. She moaned at the surprise, the pleasure. He had always regretted he had never made love to Marissa. This was making up for seven years of regret. Seven years of nothing.

She put her head back and closed her eyes, rocking back and forth, holding onto his shoulders for support. Seven years, and this was what she had missed out on. This was so amazing.

"Ryan…" she moaned. "Yes! Yes, Ryan, Oh God…Yes…"

She moaned his name over and over, and he rocked her back and forth until they had both reached their climax. That was when they pulled their sweaty bodies off each other. As they lay there, panting under the sheets, Ryan turned to Marissa and asked breathlessly,

"Why did you do that?"

She turned to him, her blue eyes wide. "Do what?"

"That! Why did we just have sex? After seven years. Has it occurred to you that I don't know anything about you."

She sat up, clutching the sheets against her chests. "I think you owe me a bit more of an explanation Ryan. What happened with Theresa? And the baby…"

Ryan sighed. "The baby was mine. I married Theresa. I didn't want to. I wanted to go back to you! I didn't have any choice."

Her piercing blue eyes stared at him. "I'm a psychiatrist now." She said. She would have expected him to burst out laughing, like her other friends and family. But he didn't.

"That's great!" he said, truthfully. "Why did you want to do that? I had no idea…"

"Well you really don't know that much about me, do you Ryan?" she snapped, but then regretted it. "Sorry. I guess…I knew what it felt like. To be alone. Deserted. To have no one."

Fuck, though Ryan. Could she be more obvious? She was making him as guilty as he could be.

"…I didn't want other people to feel like that. So I help people. And…when I first started, it helped me deal with my problems."

Ryan nodded. "I'm happy for you." He said. "And…I'm sorry for making you feel like that. Alone. Deserted. I never meant to hurt you."

Marissa shrugged. "I guess its OK. I mean Kurt really helped a lot...Oh shit." She had just remembered Kurt. From the second she had seen Ryan, every thought of her fiancé had flown out of her head. While she was having sex with Ryan, she hadn't thought of him. Only now, she remembered him.

"Kurt?" asked Ryan suspiciously. "Who's Kurt?"

"My….fiancé" mumbled Marissa in a voice that Ryan could barley hear.

"What?" he asked.

"My fiancé!" yelled Marissa angrily.

"Your…fiancé?" Ryan asked, shocked. Marissa nodded. That was when Ryan flew into a rage.

"HOLY FUCK MARISSA! HOW COULD YOU? HOW COULD YOU CHEAT ON YOUR FIANCÉ? YOU REALISE NOW IT'S MY FAULT AS WELL?? IF THE POOR GUY FINDS OUT, IT'S MY FAULT THAT YOU RUINED HIS LIFE!!"

"Oh, what, like you didn't cheat on Theresa!" screamed Marissa. "She's your WIFE!"

"I don't LOVE Theresa!" yelled Ryan, getting out of bed and putting his clothes back on. "You KNOW that Marissa!"

"Do you love me?" asked Marissa.

Ryan stared at her. Once upon a time, yes. There fairytale life had almost been perfect. But life wasn't a storybook. There was no once upon a time. There was no fairytale. There would be no happy ending. "I don't think so." He said quietly. "Do you love Kurt?"

Marissa nodded. "Yes. Yes, I love him. I don't know why I did it Ryan! I saw you, and for one second, I just wanted you! I needed you, like I never had you. But I don't love you."

Ryan stared at her and threw on his shirt. "Then you shouldn't have done it. What happened, as good as it was, was wrong, and I'm sorry I took a part in it. I wouldn't have if I knew. Goodbye Marissa." He walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Marissa slumped back on the bed, staring at the cracked ceiling of the motel room they had rented.

"You don't know me at all Ryan," she said angrily.


	5. He's my boss

**DISCLAIMER – I've been thinking up a Master Plan to kill Josh Schwartz…then the OC will be mine!! Muahaha…**

**------------------------**

Ryan thought about what had happened that day. As he lay on the soft bed in the luxurious Newport hotel, staring at the pure white ceiling, all he saw was her face. He groaned and rolled over, burying his face in the pillows.

Nup. That didn't work either. The face was still there, even in the fluffly darkness.

Plus, he couldn't breathe.

So he moved his head, heaving a deep sigh. The phone rang. He closed his eyes, and picked it up.

"Ryan Atwood," he said.

"Mr. Atwood? This is Mr. Rowan's secretary, I'm calling to reschedule your meeting tomorrow."

Ryan sat up and opened his eyes. "Um, yes tomorrow?"

"How do you feel about 5.00?"

"Um, sure." Replied Ryan. "Great. I'll be there."

"OK," said the secretary. "Thank you Mr. Atwood. Goodbye."

"Bye." Said Ryan, hanging up the phone.

**-------------------------**

"Hey baby!" exclaimed Kurt, wrapping his arms around Marissa.

"Hey Kurt," she said, kissing him.

"How was your day?" he asked.

She thought about it. It was shit until…she saw Ryan. It was great for a while…then it was ever shittier then before.

"Total shit," she told him truthfully.

"That good huh?" asked Kurt with a small smile. "Why so bad?"

Marissa sighed. "Stuff at work. And then I met this old friend. I hadn't seen him for seven years…"

"Hey, that's great! Right?" asked Kurt.

"No…I thought it would be, but it wasn't." she sighed. She was telling him as much as she could without telling him too much. "Anyway, lets not talk about that." She told him. "What about you? How was your day?"

Kurt shrugged. "OK, I guess. I had to quit out on a meeting and reschedule for tomorrow. We might be able to get a new employee out of this."

"That's great hun!" Marissa exclaimed enthusiastically. "I'm happy for you."

**--------------------------**

"Mr. Atwood?"

"That's me," said Ryan, standing up and brushing the creases out of his suit.

"Come in," said the man, gesturing to a room. "I'm Kurt." He stuck out his hand. "Pleased to meet you."

Kurt? Why was that a familiar name? He shook it off. There were probably a lot of Kurt's in Newport. He shook Kurt's hand.

"Pleased to meet you too."

**-------------------------**

"Ryan, your job history, your cases, they're all very impressive. I usually wouldn't have expected it from someone from Chino…"

Ryan smiled slightly. "Actually, I lived in Newport for a while. It straightened me out, helped me become what I am."

Kurt nodded and smiled. "A place like Newport can do that to you…Mr. Atwood, this may be a bit short notice, but I think that you and your family …"

Ryan almost shuddered at the thought of his "family." Theresa. Chrissie. Chrissie was the only good part. He hoped that Theresa was taking care of her…

"Could really benefit from this. How would you like to consider a job here?"

Ryan sat in shock.

"The pay will be better then what you're receiving now, and we could set you up in a house…"

Ryan blinked.

"You can have some time to consider it…"

Ryan finally snapped out of his trance. "Um, well, I'll have to ask my wife…" Damn Theresa! "…But I'd think the answer would most surely be yes. I'd love to work here."

"Great." Said Kurt. "You can still have some time to consider it…I've got an idea…Would you like to come out to dinner with me and my girl…uh, I mean fiancé, tonight?" he smiled cheesily. "I need to get used to saying that." He admitted.

Ryan nodded. "Uh, sure, I mean, if I'm not intruding…"

"Not at all!" said Kurt. "I know she'd love to meet you. At The Lighthouse, about 7.00? Reservations under Rowan."

Ryan smiled slightly at the restaurant he had mentioned. The Lighthouse. He remembered how stressed Sandy had been while he and Jimmy had been trying to open it, and how he had eventually sold it to Caleb. He was pleased to see it was still open.

Ryan nodded, and Kurt raised from his seat, sticking out his hand. "Well, we'll see you there." He said, as Ryan got up and shook his hand.

"See you there."

**---------------------------**

Marissa stood outside The Lighthouse, shivering in her black dress.

"Sweetie, who's this guy we're meeting?" she asked. "You haven't told me much about him."

"He's a nice guy," Kurt told her, putting his arms around her shoulders to keep her warm. "You'll like him Riss."

At the use of the nickname, Marissa became slightly annoyed. She didn't like it when people called her Riss. She had only ever liked it when Ryan called her that. He made it sound nice.

"OK, well, I'm going to the bathroom." She said. "I'll meet you guys inside, OK?"

"Kay,"

As Marissa walked inside, Ryan pulled up.

"Hi!" Kurt greeted him.

"Hey," said Ryan. "Am I late?"

"No, no, I think we're early." Said Kurt, leading him inside.

Hm. The place hadn't changed much. Kurt walked up to the counter. "I'll just check us in, you can go meet my fiancé." He pointed out a slim woman with dirty blonde hair wearing a black dress, with her back to them.

Ryan nodded and headed over to them.

"Hi, I'm…" he started, before getting a full glance of the woman. Marissa.

She saw him, and her blue eyes immediately iced over. She stood up and moved closer to him. Ryan would have thought she was about to kiss him again, if it wasn't for the look on her face. Instead she whispered, so that no one heard her, "What are _you _doing here??" her voice was dangerously sharp.

Then Kurt came towards them, entering in between them. He saw the looking at each other.

"Riss baby, this is…"

"Ryan." Marissa spat out.

Kurt looked confused. "Uh…you know each other? Great!" he exclaimed, before seeing the look in Marissa's eyes. "Or, uh, not."

"How do you know Kurt?" Marissa asked Ryan, still with the same voice.

Ryan stared at Marissa. Maybe this job wasn't such a good idea.

"He's my boss."


	6. Just to see her smile again

**DISCLAIMER – About my master plan…having some time to think it over, it might not go very well. First of all, I am very clumsy and silly so I will probably get caught. Then I will go to jail, and they won't let me control the OC from jail. And there's always the chance that even if I didn't get caught, they wouldn't give the OC. Then I may have just killed a genius for nothing.**

**-----------------**

"So, you two know each other? That's great, right?" asked Kurt again. He was sitting in between Ryan and Marissa, trying to avoid any unnecessary fights. And talking, they didn't seem to talk very well. Not that that was a problem right now. Marissa looked like she never wanted to talk to Ryan again.

"I guess," mumbled Marissa, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes, avoiding Ryan's glance at all possible times.

Ryan said nothing.

"So, uh…" Kurt's eyes flickered desperately between Ryan and Marissa. "…How _do _you guys know each other? Marissa, did you used to live in Chino?" he laughed at his own joke.

Marissa didn't see the funny side to it. "No," she mumbled.

Ryan finally decided to speak. "When I told you that I used to live in Newport, I lived next door to Marissa. We were going out for a while."

"Oh?" Kurt looked surprised at the coincidence unfolding before him. "Anything serious?"

"Yeah, quite a bi…" started Ryan, before Marissa's head flew up, her eyes blazing.

"No." she said firmly. "Nothing serious. At all." She said the last words to Ryan, her words as cold as ice.

"Oh…um. OK. Well, at least you can be…friends? Now." Said Kurt, wondering if "friends" was a good way to put it.

As a way of response, Ryan and Marissa both groaned.

"Maybe not." Said Kurt with a sigh. "But what a crazy coincidence that all of this brought us together! Funny huh?" he asked brightly, trying one last time to start a flame of conversation.

"Mmm, what a coincidence." Ryan said without much care.

"Hilarious," muttered Marissa, staring Ryan right in the eye as she jabbed her dinner viciously with her fork. He flinched. He knew she was imagining that the lettuce was him. Poor lettuce.

Poor him.

After that, Kurt stopped trying to make conversation with them about anything other then work.

"So, Ryan, did you get a chance to call your wife yet?" asked Kurt.

Marissa blinked in shock at the mention of his wife. Theresa. Not that it mattered. She would be Kurt's wife soon enough.

"Uh, I tried to call her, but she wasn't home."

Either that or she was too drunk to pick up the damn phone, thought Ryan bitterly.

"But you're sure you'll be able to take the job?"

"Quite sure." Ryan replied.

Even if he didn't, he had to get out of Chino. With Chrissie. Even if it meant coming to Newport again.

**------------------**

"Thank you for inviting me to dinner tonight," Ryan said to Kurt as he leaned out the window. Marissa stood beside him, grumpily crossing her arms, rubbing her shoulders. Ryan saw she was cold, and for tiny second he wanted to hug her, or offer her his jacket, anything to give her some warmth.  
He couldn't.  
But Kurt could.  
Ryan wondered why he wouldn't want to, to hug a beautiful woman like Marissa.

Not that it mattered.

"That's fine, hopefully we'll get a chance to know you better…won't we Riss?"

Marissa shivered slightly, and while Kurt may have thought it was from the cold, Ryan knew it was from the nickname. Marissa had only ever liked it when _he _had called her Riss.

"I guess," she said softly, trying to avoid Ryan's gaze.

"Well…bye then…" said Ryan, driving away. As he looked back, he saw Kurt waving to him, and standing next to him, Marissa had raised her head. For the first time that night, she looked straight into his eyes. He could feel her glare penetrate through him, but this time, it wasn't threatening. It was softened, and more friendly. It was ready to forgive him.

And she smiled at him. One small, tiny smile.

He smiled back at her. Just slightly, so that Kurt might not suspect something. But Marissa saw it.

As he drove down the road, streetlights dancing their reflections happily before him, he realised that the whole night, the whole thing had been worth it.

Just to see her smile again.


	7. History repeating itself

**DISCLAIMER – You know the drill. The usual – I own nothing.**

**--------------------**

Ryan listened to the empty ringing on the other send of the phone. It was late, but he knew that he had to call Theresa, right now. He had a feeling she would still be awake, drinking, smoking. As long as she was at home. It had been ringing for about four minutes and still no one had picked up. He breathed heavily, praying that Theresa would answer. "Come on...Pick up...Please..." he muttered. She had to be home. What about Chrissie? His heart pounded as he thought about his young, beautiful daughter. Had he been hoping for too much to leave her and Theresa alone? Finally the other end of the line clicked, and a small, sleepy voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Chrissie?" Ryan asked, shocked. It was almost eleven o'clock at night. What was she doing up?

"Oh," she yawned loudly. "Hi Daddy,"

"Sweetie," said Ryan. "What are you doing up so late?"

Chrissie breathed out deeply and sleepily, and answered, "I wasn't. I was asleep. But the phone was ringing and it wouldn't stop, so I answered it."

"Chrissie," asked Ryan. "Where's mummy?"

"I dunno." Chrissie said simply.

"You...You don't _know? _What do you mean baby?" he asked.

"She put me to bed and said that she was going out. I think she was going out to drink daddy. Or she might have been to see Sean..."

"Sean? Sweetie, who's Sean?" asked Ryan, struggling to keep his breathing calm.

"Her friend." Chrissie told him. "He came over last night, and him and mummy were drinking lots of wine in the kitchen. Then they went into the bedroom to talk."

"Talk?"

"That's what mummy told me. Then she gave me the sleeping medicine so I would go to sleep, and when I woke up the next morning Sean was gone." Her voice was tired and small, and Ryan realised that she truly had no idea what was happening. She yawned again.

"OK baby." Ryan said, his breathing get heavier as he tried to control his angry voice, his heart pounding in his chest. "You go back to bed now, OK? When mummy comes back, you tell her to call me, OK, at the hotel. Can you do that?"

"Uhuh," came the sleepy reply.

"OK, thank you Chrissie. And your mum shouldn't leave you by yourself, OK? If she ever tries to do that again, you call me, or you call your Grandma, kay?"

"Kay, daddy."

"OK sweetie. Night Chrissie, I love you."

"Love you too daddy, night."

"Night honey..." Ryan said, as his daughter hung up the phone.

As soon as Ryan knew Chrissie could no longer hear her, he threw down the phone, cursing bitterly. Theresa was cheating on him...That didn't anger him so much, as he remembered with a twang of regret what he had done with Marissa...But she was doing it in their own house, while her daughter was there; she had lied to her daughter, who trusted her so much, who still loved her after everything she had done to their family. She had gone out drinking, she had left her seven-year-old child at home, alone. She had gone too far. This was all starting to seem strangely familiar...a drunk mother who was never home, who never noticed her children...sleeping with strange men...Lies. Ryan remembered it all. He remembered how he had trusted his mother when he was young, when she said she would stop drinking and take care of him, he had believed it. He'd been so afraid for her, all those times he had knelt over her cold body after she collapsed on the floor. His childhood had been taken away from him; nights spent worrying about his mother, hearing his brother have sex in the room next to him, hardly bothering to hide his moans, buying drugs for his mother on the street, sneaking over to Theresa's house to have sex when they were thirteen, just to see if it was as good as it seemed. He had never been a child. And he didn't want the same thing to happen to Chrissie. This time, he was in a situation that he had the power to control.

He wouldn't let history repeat itself.


	8. Broken promises and lies

**DISCLAIMER – You know the drill. The usual – I own nothing.**

**A/N – This is quite a dark chapter, and I don't actually think it even fits in; it's about Ryan having a memory, which he can compare to what is happening with Theresa and Chrissie. And there's stuff about Marissa too, just so I didn't forget about her. Obviously, he is quite upset about it. Tell me if anything makes any sense with the story!**

**--------------------**

Ryan had hardly slept all night. He had lay on the lumpy bed, which he had never really found uncomfortable, but last night ever lump dug into his back like a pair of steely talons. The conversation he had had with Chrissie kept rebounding in his head...And in the blank patches in between, he saw parts of his childhood, parts that he never wanted to visit again. Thin slits of moonlight shone through the cracks in the blinds, dancing around the bed and the room and the wind blew, transforming harmless rays of moonlight into evil characters from his subconscious, pointing, laughing and taunting him. He squeezed his eyes shut, but he could still see them from behind his eyelids, burning through his skin like white-hot fire. He tried to block out everything, the voices, the moonlight, the people...It didn't work. But eventually, he fell asleep.

**--------------------**

"_Mum? Mum? Mum!" Ten-year-old Ryan Atwood shook his mother's shoulder as she lay on the still unmade bed, her arm dropping over the side and a half empty bottle of scotch on the bedside table. Her eyes were glued shut and her mouth was wide open. She breathed in and out, loud and heavily, and Ryan could spell the foul stench of alcohol seeping from her breath and onto his nose. But he didn't care. She was still conscious._

"_Mum." He said softly. "Wake up mum, please...please, mum..." _

_At the last 'mum' he uttered, Dawn's eyelids opened slightly. "Ry..." she groaned._

"_Mum!" he exclaimed. "Are you OK?"_

"_I'm fine Ry," she lied, looking at him through her heavy eyes._

"_Mum..." he whispered again, and Dawn saw his small, terrified face, and finally realised how much all of this must scare her young son._

"_Oh, here sweetie," she said thickly, and held out her arms. Her son gratefully accepted the hug, wrapping his arms around his mother and spreading his warmth throughout her cold body._

"_I'm scared mum..." he admitted softly, and tears started to fill his eyes. Dawn pulled away and put her hands on Ryan's shoulders. She saw the tear start to run down his cheek and she gently wiped it away._

"_Me to Ryan." She said. "I'm sorry I scared you. All of this...everything, it's going to stop, OK?"_

_Ryan looked at her behind his moist eyes. "Really?" he asked timidly. "Promise?"_

"_Promise," she said, and pulled him into a hug. She loved the feel of his young, warm body against her. She loved that he loved her, even like this. "It'll never happen again. I promise." She stroked his thick, sandy hair. "You're so special to me Ry. You're my little angel."_

_For that moment, Ryan believed every word Dawn said. He thought that when she said it would stop, she meant it. She promised him._

_------------------_

"_Mum!" screamed Ryan, pounding that bathroom door. "Mum! What's wrong? Please, mum, come out!" He tired the doorknob one more time, but it wouldn't move. "Trey!" he yelled, calling for his older brother. "Trey!"_

"_What?!" asked Trey angrily, coming out of his room, headphones still in his ears._

"_Mum's in there!" Ryan yelled as Trey removed his headphones. "She won't come out, she won't answer. Something's wrong..."_

"_Dawn?" Trey knocked on the door. Ryan noticed that his brother never called his mother 'Mum' anymore. "Dawn? Dawn! Open the door..."_

"_She can't hear you..." whispered Ryan. _

"_DAWN!" Yelled Trey, pounding the door. "OK, move Ryan." He instructed his little brother and Ryan obediently moved out of the way and Trey started to slam himself against the bathroom door. The door hadn't been in such a strong condition in the first place, and Trey eventually managed to swing in open, half of it's hinges. That door never got fixed._

_Inside the bathroom, Ryan saw his mother, slumped in a ball on the tiles. A large, empty Vodka bottle was smashed on the floor, small pieces of glass scattered everywhere. Ryan ran inside and slid onto the floor on his knees, ignoring the shooting pain as the glass cut through his skin. He leaned over his mum, looked into her face. It was pale and he could feel how cold she was. It sent freezing shivers over his body. For that split second that he knelt over his mum's lifeless body, her face pale and her red lips, the only remaining colour to her face, slightly parted, he thought the worst. But he couldn't cry. He wanted too. But somehow he couldn't. _

"_Mum!" he yelled, shaking her. She didn't wake up, and he shook her more violently._

_A small moan escaped her lips. She was still alive._

_That was when the tears returned to Ryan's eyes. She had broken her promise. He had gone an believed her. He wanted to hit himself. How could he be so stupid? So fucking STUPID?! Why would he ever believe her?_

"_Mum..." he whispered as she opened her eyes. A tear dropped down the rim of her nose and onto her cold face. She shivered. _

"_Ry..." she said._

"_Don't call me Ry." He said coldly._

"_I'm sorry..." she tried._

"_Sorry? Sorry's not good enough this time mum! You promised! You promised me!"_

"_Ry..." _

"_Why did I believe you? It was just a lie. It's always a lie! I should know that by now." He stood up, trying his best to ignore his mum's beseeching eyes as he walked away._

"_Ryan, please. I'm sorry, I promise..." pleaded Dawn, her voice slurred._

"_DON'T..." he said coldly, spinning around to face her. As Dawn saw her son's face, she gasped. Only a few days ago, he had been a little boy, he had been her little boy. He had been scared for her, he had cried for her. He wasn't the same boy anymore. His face was cold; his face was hard, as he tried not to let the emotions spill over his surface. But his eyes cried, his eyes streamed tears of blood, this time, they weren't for her, they were because of her. All because of her. "Don't you DARE promise me ANYTHING. It's all lies. All of it." _

_Those were his last words before he ran out of the house and onto the street. The tears streamed down his face now that no one could see him. He hated her. He HATED her. But most of all, he hated himself. For being such an idiot. For believing her, believing that she could really keep her promise. Thinking that the glimmer of hope he saw in his dull life would stay there. The glimmer was a knife, it cut through his skin and let his heart bleed. _

_That was the worst day of Ryan Atwood's life._

_That was the day that he learnt you could never trust anyone to keep a promise._

**------------------**

Ryan's eyes flew open desperately and he sat up, clinging the sheets around him. He took deep breaths, in and out, his breathing loud and raspy as the dream, the memory from his past still echoing the empty voices in his head.

"_It'll never happen again."  
_Liar.

"_I'm sorry, I promise..."  
_Liar.__

"All of this, it's going to stop..."  
Liar.

Lies. All of it, empty, broken promises. Almost all of his life, the whole painting of his life, it was a rich woven tapestry of lies, blood, tears...There was only one part of the picture he really like. One time, one year. Newport...Sandy, Kirsten, real parents, finally, parents who loved him...Seth, his brother, his best friend...And Marissa. He thought that was the best part of it. The moments he spent with her were the moments he savored most, because they were the times that his life was perfect. And he couldn't deny that he liked it. He was even starting to get used to it. But you can never get too comfortable with something perfect. It never lasts. Ryan thought of how much he loved her...It seemed strange to him, using love in a past tense. Because he wanted to love Marissa. He wanted to love her again, so much. He had wanted to love her ever since he left.

But he was an expert at blocking out his feelings. He had locked his heart; no one could open it. Marissa had always held the key. She still held the key. But it was her chance whether or not she used it, and it didn't really seem to Ryan that she was about to unlock his heart any time now. So he didn't hold onto too much hope. Just a tiny bit, just in case the perfect ever really came back to him...

Lies had ruined that perfect part of his life as well. And it went to being exactly how it used to be.

He remembered how he felt that day, the memory as fresh as though it had happened yesterday, the pain still fresh when he chose to uncover the wounds.

_I hate her. I HATE her!_

Those bitter words that he had said to himself. Maybe it was true. He didn't want to lie to himself.

That night, as Ryan lay in bed, moonlight shadows dancing on his face, he made a promise to himself. He made a promise to Chrissie. He would get the both of them out of the endless hell that they were stuck in. They would escape. And then they could leave it behind. And Ryan could finally leave everything behind, block out the old, haunting memories that just wouldn't leave him alone. His life at the moment was just a repeat of his old life, a repeat on TV. He knew it off by heart, the same old dialogue, over and over again. He was sick of watching it. So he'd finally turn it off.

Ryan knew that he could keep his promise. He didn't want to be like his mother, a liar. Because the thing he hated most was liars.


	9. She's not even yours

**DISCLAIMER – I don't own nuffin'!!**

**A/N – Hehe, thanks for all the awesome reviews on the last chapter!! Hey Jas, looking forward for you to post the one shot and on "The Third Voice", which, by the way is awesome, read it if you like Moulin Rouge! Wooooo. I'm a bit hyper tonight ;) Enjoy everybody!**

**--------------------**

Ryan hadn't gone back to sleep since he had woken up from the dream. He had wiped the cold sweat of his face, until he realised that they were actually tears. He had been crying in his sleep. He sighed. After that, he didn't let his head hit the pillow and lead him back to his nightmares...So he lay awake, thinking thoughts that could have actually been worse then nightmares, but he didn't want to take the chance and compare them.

He lay awake until the early hours of the morning. As the slits of moonlight were replaced by gleams of sunshine, Ryan sighed in relief. He opened the blinds fully, letting the tepid morning sun spread it's warmth over his body. He lay down and took a few deep breaths, closing his eyes, so he could finally sleep. He could sleep better now that it was light. Ryan Atwood had never been afraid of the dark. Last night was the first time in his life he didn't want to sleep...He was most scared that he might dream about Marissa.

As he was just about to drift off to a finally comfortable sleep, the phone beside him started ringing.

"Ugh," he groaned, and turned around, hoping that if the phone could see his back it would realise he didn't want to answer.

Unfortunately for him, phones don't have eyes.

"Ugh!" he exclaimed again, sitting up as the phone showed no intention of giving up. "Why now? Why not at 2.00 in the morning, when I was actually _awake?_" he grumbled as he answered the phone, because, after all, it was probably Theresa.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Hi Ryan."

It was Theresa. And she sounded very nervous. Serve her right, thought Ryan.

"Oh. Hi." He said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes, trying to wake himself up a bit more.

"Chrissie told me you called last night..."

Ryan's eyes jerked open as he remembered the conversation with Chrissie last night. "Where _were _you Theresa?!"

"I..." started Theresa.

"I called at eleven o'clock at night, and my seven-year-old daughter answers!"

"I..."

"I asked her where he mum was, and you know what she told me?" Ryan continued angrily.

"I..." Theresa kept saying, but Ryan was flying into too much of a fit to listen.

"You know what she tells me Theresa??" Ryan asked again. "She tells me that her mum's out, she left her at home, all alone. Where is she? Oh, she's probably just off _drinking!"_

On the other end of the phone, Theresa started to cry.

"She's probably out drinking. Like it's no big deal. It's a big deal Theresa!" Ryan yelled, as Theresa's sobs got louder.

"How could you leave her by herself? Theresa...This is just too much. It's gone to far..."

"Ryan!" Theresa finally screamed as clearly as she could with tears clogging her voice. "Stop. Please don't yell at me. I have a headache..."

"That's no ones fault but your own Theresa. But I called you for a reason."

"What Ryan?" asked Theresa, her voice weary and tired.

"I got offered a job." He said, waiting for her reaction.

"OK." She said simply.

"In Newport." He said.

"OK." she said again.

He sighed, she wasn't getting his point. "I'm going to take it." He told her.

The other line went silent for a minute, and Ryan could hear Theresa's breathing in his ear.

"No." she finally said. "Ryan! You can't move to Newport. WE can't move to Newport! Think about Chrissie! She's grown up in Chino, it's her home..."

"Chino isn't her home, Theresa." Said Ryan in a tired voice. He didn't want to explain the obvious. "She deserves a better life. She deserves somewhere like..."

"Oh, somewhere like NEWPORT?!" Yelled Theresa, all pain of her hangover forgotten. "In case you don't remember, _Ryan_, Chino is your home too..."

"Chino isn't my home." Said Ryan aggressively. "Newport is my home. Chino is my temporary hell. And I want to leave. I want Chrissie to leave. She can finally have a good life. Everything I didn't when I was her age..."

"Well..." said Theresa desperately. "I _won't."_

"What?" asked Ryan.

"I won't. I won't leave Chino. I _won't." _She finished triumphantly, hoping she had trapped him again.

"Fine," Ryan said, as if he really didn't care anymore. Because he didn't. "Don't. I won't make you."

"W-what?" asked Theresa.

"I'm not going to make you leave. You can stay in Chino. But I'm taking Chrissie to Newport."

Theresa said nothing, as she gaped openly at his words.

"Theresa?" Ryan said.

Theresa made a strangled sound.

Ryan took a deep breath, and uttered those words that he knew would break Chrissie's little heart. But if he wanted to keep his promise to her, he had to...

"I want a divorce."

Theresa made no sound for a moment, but seconds later, she started crying again. "Ryann..." she moaned.

"Don't worry Theresa. You don't want me anymore. I'm no fun, remember?" he smiled slightly. "And anyway..." he paused as he listened to her sobs. "You have Sean."

Theresa's moans stopped. "Ho-How do you k-know about S-Sean?" she stammered, sniffing.

Ryan smiled. "You can try and lie to Chrissie, but it doesn't fool me Theresa. "Talk" is an old excuse. I seem to remember _we _used to use it. I know your tricks Theresa."

She cursed as she realised she had been caught out.

"I'm taking Chrissie, OK Theresa? There's no way you'll be able to get custody of her, not after how you've acted. If you want to be her mother again, you should start acting like it."

"No!" Theresa yelled.

"What?" Ryan blinked in shock.

"You...You can't have her. You _can't_ have her!"

"I can take care of her more than you can Theresa."

"But..." the words she said next instantly led to regret, but she was emotional and upset, Ryan was leaving her…she finally told him the secret she had been hiding...

"She's not even _yours_!"


	10. They weren't there

**DISCLAIMER – I don't own the OC, don't sue me, you'll just get a heap of junk…Oh, and I obviously don't own Missy Higgins or her songs. **

**A/N – This is a very long chapter, I didn't plan it that way but that was how it turned out. NINE Microsoft Word pages!! And the song I used is "They Weren't There" by Missy Higgins, and I just wanted to use it in the story, so I'm not sure if it even fits in. Oh, and the story is now called, "Clichéd love lines"… Should it stay that way? **

**This chapter is dedicated to the memory of all the lives lost in the Tsunami tragedy in Thailand. I am currently watching the "Australia Unites – Reach Out To Asia" TV special, and I just wanted to dedicate this to them, since I've already donated money.**

**------------------**

Ryan took one sharp breath of air and choked. The words were stuck in his mind and now they were choking him. He couldn't breathe…Eventually he managed to gasp out...

"W-What?"

"Oh, fuck." Swore Theresa as she realised she had just told him what she had been trying so desperately to hide.

"You – You lied?" asked Ryan incredulously, still unable to believe what was happening as he fought to regain his breath.

"I..." whimpered Theresa. "I don't k-know…I don't know why..."

Ryan interrupted her painful ramblings. "I...I stayed for you, Theresa. No," he corrected himself. "I didn't stay for you. I stayed for Chrissie. Only for my daughter. And – and you lied to me. Theresa, I...I trusted you. I believed you. I know Chrissie looks nothing like me, but...But I still trusted you. I trusted that you wouldn't lie to me."

"But..." snivelled Theresa before another attack of sobs overtook her and she moaned into the phone.

"I love Chrissie." Ryan said. "And you don't deserve you. I may not be her…" he faltered. "Her f-father...But I'm the closest thing she has, and I'm going to take care of her, because you obviously can't."

"Ryan, please!" yelled Theresa. "I did it because of you! I did it for you..."

"Oh, really." Asked Ryan coldly. "And how was lying to me supposed to help me?"

"I love you, Ryan!" Theresa yelled. "You just..." she sniffed. "You just couldn't see it. I knew you wouldn't stay unless the baby was yours. Because you're like that Ryan. You're honourable...I knew that you would do the right thing..."

"So you used it against me."

"I just…I just w-wanted you s-so _badly." _Moaned Theresa. "And all you wanted was Marissa..."

"Because I love her!" screamed Ryan. He gasped inwardly as soon as he realised what he had said. _"I love her." _He said love. Present-tense. But he didn't…did he?

Theresa's sobs started to subside, and she wasn't as surprised as Ryan was at his exclamation. "I know." She sighed.

"Y-you what?" he asked.

"I know you love her." Theresa said, and Ryan felt his heart thud. "It's so obvious Ry. Even after seven years, you still love her. You keep denying it, but you know you do. You think that I haven't noticed? You think I haven't noticed that you still keep her picture in your bedside table, like you've buried her away, but really its just so that every time you open the drawer you see her?"

"Do I do that?" asked Ryan as a wave of numb shock overtook his body.

"You do Ryan." She said sadly. "You still love her. I just..." she sniffed slightly and paused to wipe a tear running down her cheek. "I just wanted you to love me like that. But I can't win. You're hers. And you're right. I'm an awful mother. I've spent...so, so long trying to keep this secret from you...It just overtook me. It's not me. I never wanted to become this, Ryan. I wanted to be a good mother...I'm horrible. Chrissie deserves someone like you, Ryan. I..." she took a breath. "I hope you're happy in Newport. I hope both of you are." She caught her breath sharply, trying to stop the tears from pouring from her eyes again.

"I...OK." said Ryan weakly. He didn't know what to say. "I'll come and get Chrissie..."

"No." said Theresa. "I'll drive her up. Tomorrow. I want to spend one more day with her."

"Bu…" Ryan started, but Theresa wouldn't let him speak.

"Please Ryan." She begged. "I just want to see her, one more day. I do love her. I owe her an explanation."

"I'll tell her, Theresa." Ryan offered. "I want to. You can take her up here...You know where I'm staying..."

"Yeah." Said Theresa, sighing heavily. "Bye Ryan. And..."

"Yeah?"

"Have a good life with Marissa." She said, choking on her words. She hung up before he could hear her cry.

Chrissie had curled herself up in the corner of next room, where she could hear what her mummy was saying on the phone, but she knew she wouldn't be caught. She guessed that her mummy was talking to daddy, because she kept saying "Ryan" which she knew was her daddy's real name. She also heard the name "Marissa" a few times. She didn't know who Marissa was, but she was someone who mummy brought up a lot whenever her and daddy were fighting, mostly when she was drunk. She was guessing that Marissa wasn't a very nice person, by the way that mummy talked about her, but she thought that Marissa was a very pretty name, and daddy always some nice things about her. She would close her eyes and imagine "Marissa" as a very tall, slim and graceful person. She liked Marissa. But mummy didn't.

She could hear her mummy crying after she hung up the phone. Chrissie uncurled herself and tiptoed into the other room. "Mummy?" she asked in a small, timid voice, because she knew that she was sick. It was called a "hangover", which she knew was something that happened to grown-ups after they drank too much.

"Oh." Theresa raised her head and Chrissie saw the mascara smudges running down her cheeks, knowing that mummy had been crying for a long time. "Hi sweetie." She said, and attempted to smile.

"Was that daddy?" asked Chrissie in the same small voice.

Theresa nodded and Chrissie saw her eyes go watery again, and she wondered if she was about to cry more. But instead she just blinked, and the water disappeared.

"What's happening mummy?" asked Chrissie. She was young...but she was smart. She knew something was going on.

Theresa looked at her young daughter, standing tall and innocent through all of his. She bit her lip and patted her lap. "Up here baby." She whispered, and Chrissie gingerly sat on her mother's lap. Theresa wrapped her arms around her daughter's waist and put her nose in her thin, dark hair, inhaling the smell of her lost youth and innocence. "I love you so much sweetie." She said softly.

"I know." Said Chrissie. "I love you too. Mummy…what's happening?"

Theresa took a deep breath. "Sweetie…daddy's been offered a job. In Newport. He's moving there. And you're going with him."

"And you too?" asked Chrissie.

Theresa's eyes welled up with tears and she shook her head slowly. "No honey. Just you...and daddy."

Chrissie leapt down from her mother's lap, her eyes suddenly burning with tears. "Are...Are you guys getting a d-divorce?" she asked, her voice quivering as she stared up at her mother with wide eyes.

Theresa couldn't think of anything to say. She nodded.

"No." said Chrissie, her eyes flickering desperately and tears starting to spill down her cheeks. "You can't!" She was about to run away when Theresa caught her arm and pulled her back, letting her cry in her lap.

"Shhh," hushed Theresa, trying to calm her daughter.

"You can't get a divorce!" wailed Chrissie. "Then I won't have a normal family anymore! I…want…a…normal…family!"

Theresa bit her tongue, holding back the urge to tell Chrissie that their family never was normal, that her father wasn't even her father, and that, no one in Chino had a normal family anyway.

"Sweetie, sweetie, shhh," Theresa repeated over and over again.

Eventually, her daughters wails and moans caved in, and she raised her head, sniffling. "It was going to happen anyway, wasn't it?"

Theresa froze. She had always known her daughter was smart, but she never knew that she could see this before Theresa could. Maybe it was just too obvious to hide. She nodded numbly.

"Mummy?" asked Chrissie, her voice still small and cracked, the tears still silently streaming down her face.

"Yes?" asked Theresa, and she pulled Chrissie into her lap again.

"Is Newport nice? Is it that place daddy's always talking about?"

Theresa nodded, trying to stop the painful memories of Newport flooding back to her, forcing herself to remember only the nice ones. There weren't many, but she tried.

"It's always sunny there." She started. "And there are lots of beautiful beaches. And lots of beautiful people..." she added bitterly before she could stop herself.

"Like those people daddy talks about?"

Again, Theresa nodded. "There's Seth. He's daddy's brother..."

"My uncle?" asked Chrissie.

Theresa's eyes filled with tears, but she nodded. "Yes baby." She said in a small voice. "Your Uncle Seth. And there's Sandy, and Kirsten..." she faltered in speech as she remembered how nice the Cohen's had been to her throughout the whole awful ordeal. She had never really thought about how hard it must have been for them. They were being so nice to her...and she was taking away their son, just when they thought they really had him forever. She had torn their family apart. All for her own selfish needs. She gulped, and continued, "They're daddy's...parents." she said.

"Grandma and Grandpa..."

"Yes..." started Theresa, but Chrissie said something else.

"What about Marissa?"

Theresa's eye's instantly iced over, and she flinched at the sound of her name. Of all her Newport memories, Marissa was the one that Theresa most wanted to erase. Marissa. She was the whole reason that Ryan wasn't still with her. The reason Ryan didn't love her. It was all her fault. And he still loved her.

"Is she beautiful too?"

Theresa swallowed, hard, as she thought of Marissa. Tall, skinny, gorgeous. Everything that Theresa wasn't. No wonder Ryan would choose her. She could never see what was so nice about her...To Theresa, she was just another rich bitch. Ryan must have seen more.

"She is." Said Theresa, hoping that her voice wasn't as ice cold as her thoughts. "Daddy really likes her."

"Will I like her?" asked Chrissie.

"I guess you will." Sighed Theresa. "She's going to be a big part of your life."

**---------------------**

Ryan lay back on the bed, struggling to keep his breathing normal. His heart was pounding and the room was spinning. He closed his eyes tightly, but he didn't feel like sleeping anymore. Theresa's words were still hitting him. Hard. First of all, everything about Chrissie. She wasn't his daughter? Well...he wasn't sure if that shocked him very much. He had always had a feeling that she wasn't, a dull ache in his stomach whenever he noticed that they looked nothing like each other, but he always chose to ignore it, and told himself that she was his, end of story.

She wasn't.

But the thing that hit him the hardest was what Theresa had said about Marissa. She hadn't told him that he _loved _her. She said that in the whole seven years they had lived together, even now, he was still _in love_ with Marissa. He had never fallen out of love. And he had lost her. She was getting married, and even worse, she was getting married to the man that he had now decided was his new boss. He tried to laugh at the irony of the entire thing. Nothing came, and he found himself thinking that he really needed Seth at a time like this, someone who would point out the clichéd lines with sarcasm, but stop as soon as Ryan shot him a look, telling him to leave him alone and let him brood with his problems. Even then he wouldn't leave, but he would at least stop talking. Kind of. Actually, not at all.

Seth was the best friend – and brother – Ryan had ever had.

Thinking about Seth brought back a string of memories from seven years ago, while Ryan opened the floodgates in his mind, the ones he had put up to block out all the beautiful memories that he had never wanted to think of again.

He thought of Sandy. Sandy had been the father figure in Ryan's life ever since he had gotten him out of juvvie and brought him home to his own house. Sandy hadn't been put off when his wife had objected to it. Sandy was his father.

Kirsten...Beautiful, sweet Kirsten. She had been so intimidated by him when he first moved into their poolhouse. She trusted her husband, but she still didn't trust him. Ryan accepted that, but he was trying so hard...It didn't help when he – accidentally – burnt down their model home. That had landed him back in juvvie, where he was sure he was stuck forever...Until Kirsten came. Kirsten got him out of juvvie, and she let him stay with them. She allowed him to become part of their family. After that, he tried harder then ever to prove to her that he wasn't just a normal Chino delinquent. It took time...But eventually, Kirsten let her guard down, and came to love Ryan just as much as she loved Seth. Kirsten was his mother.

Of course, there was Seth. Ryan couldn't deny that he had always thought the kid was a little books, playstation, an odd obsession with pudding, and he talked to a plastic horse. Still, Seth had been all willing to open his heart – and his mouth – to Ryan. Seth became Ryan's best friend...his first real friend. And he became his brother. Seth...His real brother.

Marissa. There was so much that attracted him to her in the first place. She was beautiful, yes...But it was more then looks with Marissa. She got him. When her parents broke up, she got a little taste of what it was like to be him...to come from a broken family. That was one thing that they had in common. Maybe she didn't understand everything about him...But she always tried. He knew that, he appreciated that more then anything. She must have really and truly loved him. Once. Then he left, he broke her heart, and he didn't come back. She had no one to turn to, until she found Kurt. Now she was getting married to him. The problem? Ryan still loved her.

He drew in another shaky breath and blinked, trying to clear his head. The room finally stopped spinning, and he focused his eyes on the phone lying on the bed. The first thing he thought was that he needed to call Kurt. He picked up the phone and fumbled with the card that Kurt had given him, trying to control his shaking hands as he punched in his number. It rang emptily for a minute, and Ryan was glad for the delay, but eventually the phone clicked, and a female voice came on the other end.

"Hello?" asked Marissa in a raspy voice, the same one she had whenever she woke up, the one that Ryan always thought was so sexy. His heart pounded.

"Uh...Hi. Marissa." he said.

"Hi, Ryan!" her voice brightened noticeably and Ryan smiled. But she must have noticed that she sounded a bit too over-excited, and changed her voice back to what she probably thought sounded a bit annoyed at him, but Ryan thought that he knew better. "Um. What do you want?"

"Can...Can I talk to Kurt please?" he asked, thinking that he sounded like a five year old.

"Uh, yeah..." said Marissa. She held her hand over the receiver and called out, "Kurt!"

"Yeah honey?" came his voice from the kitchen.

"Phone for you!" she said. "It's Ryan."

"OK, just a sec." Kurt called back.

"Um, he'll be here in a second." She said, picking up the phone and talking to Ryan.

"OK..." said Ryan. An awkward silence followed. "Look, I'm sorry about last ni…"

"Me too." Said Marissa simply. "I was just a bit shocked, you know? I mean, after what happened...Look at the satire."

Ryan smiled. "Seth would love it."

Marissa laughed softly, and Ryan felt his heart pound again. "And...I'm sorry about what happened…before. It wasn't mean to happen."

"Me too." Apologized Ryan. "I'm sorry I blew up at you. He'll never find out…right?" he asked.

"Yeah." Agreed Marissa, and another awkward silence followed.

"I..." Ryan started. He wasn't sure what he was about to say, he was just about to let words fall out of his mouth. It could have been "I miss you". Or it could have been "I love you." He probably would have cut himself off before he finished, but Marissa did it for him first.

"Here's Kurt." She said. "Well...Bye Ryan."

"Bye Riss." He said softly. So softly that he almost wasn't sure that she heard it. But she did, and she couldn't hand the phone to Kurt quick enough after she heard it. Kurt sat down on the bed and smiled at Marissa. She smiled back slightly, and ran out to the living room, where she collapsed on the couch and buried her head in the pillow, screaming. She screamed into the cushiony darkness, hoping Kurt couldn't hear her, until her throat grew dry. She raised her head and took a few deep breaths. She had heard what he had said. He called her Riss. He hadn't called her Riss for seven years, and until then, she hadn't realised how much she missed it. They way his voice was soft and husky, sweet yet always with a note of strength. She hadn't realised how much she missed him.

-**--------------------**

"Hello?" said Kurt.

"Hi...Kurt." said Ryan breathlessly; still mad at himself about what he had said to Marissa.

"So, what's up?" asked Kurt.

"Um, I just wanted to say that...I can take the job." Said Ryan.

"Really?" said Kurt. "Great! So, you called your wife? The family's going to come down?"

"Well..." said Ryan, not really sure if he should be telling Kurt this. "My wife and I...we're getting a divorce."

"Oh, man." Said Kurt. "I'm so sorry."

"It's fine." Assured Ryan. "It was my suggestion. And it was bound to happen anyway. But me and my dau – yeah…my daughter. My daughter and I will be coming down to Newport."

"Well, that's great." Said Kurt. "And, just so you know, our company will set you up in a comfortable Newport home. You seem to be a very determined worker. We will give you the best in exchange for your best."

"Um..." Ryan licked his lips. "Thank you. I…I will. Thank you."

"No problem." Said Kurt.

"I can start soon?" suggested Ryan.

"Could you start next week?" asked Kurt. "You can get settled in your home and then begin."

"Uh, yeah." Agreed Ryan. "That'd be great. Thank you so much..."

"That's fine." Said Kurt warmly, and Ryan instantly felt a pang of regret about what him and Marissa were hiding from him. He was such a great guy, and he was helping Ryan so much. "We...Marissa and I...will come and see you in your new home...Maybe we can help you get settled in."

"OK." said Ryan. "Thank you." He said one more time. He just couldn't say it enough.

"No problem." Kurt said again. "Bye, Ryan."

"Bye." He said before hanging up.

**-------------------**

"Riss?" asked Kurt, coming through the doorway. Marissa cringed at the name that had been said by Ryan only a few minutes before, because it sounded so much better coming from him. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said brightly, sitting up and fixing a false smile on her face. "Why?"

"Oh, I thought I just heard you yelling or something," he said, slightly confused, but Marissa shook her head. "Oh, OK. I'll just go finish breakfast then..." Marissa nodded and he left for the kitchen.

As soon as he was out of sight Marissa jumped off the couch and ran towards the bedroom. She dropped to her knee's and opened the bottom drawer of her dresser, fumbling through the clothes and pushing things aside until she found what she was looking for, a shoe box hidden right at the very back. She had made it in Arts & Crafts when she was seven years old. She had stolen her mums Gucci shoebox and painted it bright purple, her favourite colour. She had then painted on smiley faces, rainbows, flowers and any other pretty thing that came to her mind, and the teacher had given her lots of stickers to put on. On the top of the box, she had written **MARISSA'S MEMORIES**, in her roundest, neatest seven year old writing, and stuck on her school photo for that year, the one where she had been reluctant to smile because she had just lost her front tooth, but the photo man had made her laugh just before he had taken the picture, resulting in a large and toothy smile from seven year old Marissa Cooper.

Marissa opened the box and shuffled through the various memorabilia inside. Her old diary, tickets from movies and concerts were inside, but mostly there were photos. Closer to the bottom were her favourites...some of Summer and Seth, quite a few of the four of them; Seth, Summer, her and Ryan...And her absolutes favourites were touching the base of the box...Pictures of her and Ryan. She picked them up and flicked through them. She stopped on one of her and Ryan, sitting on the beach. Ryan's arms were around her and she was looking up at him, and he was leaning down as they kissed each other's lips lightly.

Marissa sighed and closed her eyes as she remembered that day…

She licked her lips as she tasted the salty air, and shivered at the slight breeze casting through the otherwise warm day. Ryan's arm around her shoulder warmed her up. It was sunset...The sky had been tinted with gorgeous shades of purple and pink, and the normally white clouds had turned into swirls of orange cream. The setting sun threw pink shadows over the two teenagers faces, and just at the moment they had kissed, the light, splashing waves ringing in their ears, Summer had clicked the camera, squealing, "Eww. You guys are so cute! You make me wanna throw up!" Seth had silenced her yelps with kisses, and she started giggling. Ryan and Marissa had laughed at their friends, and Seth had taken the opportunity to freeze the moment in time, jumping up and down with the camera in his hand as he exclaimed, "Whoa, rare moment guys! I got one of Ryan smiling! Let's go celebrate…Ice cream anybody?" They had all laughed as Summer had smacked him on the head, asking him, "Is food all you think of?". Still laughing, they had walked to the ice cream shop, where Seth had gulped down his double-chocolate cone in almost one breath. Summer had eaten her low fat vanilla ice-cream fast, and looked immediately guilty after she finished hers, but when Seth wrapped his arm around her and kissed her, she smiled, and the guiltiness disappeared, replaced by happiness. Ryan had finished his cone by the time Marissa had only taken a few bites of hers. Looking at her with concern, he asked her why she wasn't eating it. "I'm not hungry..." she shrugged it off. But he knew what she was thinking. "Riss..." he had whispered, leaning closer to her so that their lips were almost touching, and she could taste his warm breath. "...You're beautiful." He told her. "You're always beautiful." He paused, before kissing her. As their lips broke apart, he said softly, "I love you." Marissa's heart fluttered, as it had every time he said that. She never got tired of hearing it, and every time the words escaped his mouth, her heart felt lighter and a smile crossed her face. "I love you too." She whispered back. They broke apart, only to find their friends staring at them, Summer pretending to gag. "Shut up Sum!" Marissa exclaimed, amused. She had finished her ice cream, and actually managed not to feel guilty about it. All because of Ryan. Ryan made her feel beautiful. He made her feel special.

He had anyway. That was only a memory, she reminded herself as she opened her eyes. She looked at the next photo, and touched his laughing face. She wanted to feel the same shiver of electricity that she felt up her body whenever she touched him, but she only felt the smooth touch of the Kodak paper. Day's like that had been torn away from her after Theresa became pregnant and Ryan moved back to Chino. So many people had told her that she would be OK without him, that she should just forget him and if he had really loved her he wouldn't have left. It reminded her of the words of a song she had once heard…

_But they all said, "you're too young to even know, __  
just don't let it grow and you'll be stronger without him"_

Marissa couldn't help but think that they were all wrong.

Ryan was special to her. He loved her like no one else in her life ever had...She had always thought that their love was special, and she still did...kind of.

She wondered why she was suddenly having all these feeling for him, feelings that she hadn't felt for almost seven years. She couldn't still be in love with her...Because there was no way he still felt the same way. And she loved Kurt...But she wasn't sure if it was the same way that she…_had_…loved Ryan. Ryan…Ryan was special. Ryan made her _feel_ special. She knew she had loved him once. The question was...Did she still love him?

_You sighed and I was lost in you, weeks could've past for all I knew. __  
You were there blanket of the over-world and so I couldn't say, __  
I wouldn't say "no". But they all said, "you're too young to even know, __  
just don't let it grow and you'll be stronger without him" __  
but oh, now, my world is at your feet. I was lost and I was found, __  
but I was alive and now I've drowned. __  
So now I will be waiting for the world to hear my song __  
so they can tell me I was wrong..._

"_They Weren't There"_

_- Missy Higgins_

**A/N – Once again, this is dedicated to the victims of the Tsunami disaster, and a thank you to the "Australia Unites – Reach Out To Asia" TV special...Last time I checked, we raised over $20. Million!! Pretty good!!!**


	11. How can I turn it down?

**DISCLAIMER – By now you should all know that Josh Schwartz owns the OC, and I am now Josh...Therefore I don't own anything OC related. **

**A/N – In reply to a comment made...**

Newportbabe44: "just please don't make it one of those fics where like Kurt's cheating on Marissa so than the guilt isn't there for Ryan/Marissa anymore, it's overused, too dramatic...blah blah."

**I know what you mean, I'm sick of that storyline too. Kurt would never cheat on Marissa; he does love her...which is quite sad because it would be so much easier for Ryan/Marissa if he wasn't...but who am I to argue with my own story? And in this chapter there will be the re-introduction of two long missed characters...Seth and Summer! Yes they are back. Lol I'm hopeless at advertising…read on!!**

**------------------**

Ryan drove steadily across the road, his knuckles turning white as they firmly gripped the steering wheel. Where was he going? He had known where once he had left the hotel, but after that, he had just got in the car and...Drove.

He just needed someone to talk to. Chrissie wasn't his...He was still in love with Marissa...Theresa and he were getting a divorce...He was moving back to Newport...A million thoughts, swirling through his minds at a million miles per hour. He had no friends back in Chino...he was basically a loner. He had no one in Newport...Well, there was Marissa, but he couldn't talk to her! One of his problems was her. And there was Kurt, kind of. He couldn't talk to him even more.

And the only thing that his swirling mind could tell him was that he was going to see Sandy and Kirsten Cohen.

**----------------**

He raised his knuckle to rap on the wood, and his arms automatically dropped back to his sides like dead weights, as he waited nervously for an answer. He hoped that they still lived here. He guessed they did. It was still their car in the driveway, and Ryan could see a surfboard lying around the side. He wondered amusingly if Sandy still surfed. It was a funny thing that he remembered the way to their house after all these years. One year in this town, and there was a map, permanently engraved in his mind. Ryan liked that map.

As he waited, he expected to hear voices inside. Sandy and Kirsten's voices, to be exact. He did hear voices...but not the ones he had expected. They were voices he hadn't heard for years, voices that brought back a flood of memories, like when he had seen Marissa for the first time.

"Summer, answer the door." A guys voice said lazily.

Ryan started at the sound. That was one voice he certainly hadn't expected to hear. After all these years...Seth! His voice hadn't changed...still as whiny as ever. What was he still doing in Newport? Ryan would have expected him to have left by now. And still living in his parent's house? And...Did Ryan hear him mention...

"COHEN, you JERK! Just coz I'm here does not mean I'm your personal maid!"

Summer.

"Well, it's not like you do anything else...Ow!"

Ryan wondered what Summer had thrown at him.

"Jackass! Go answer the door, or I swear, I'll kill you!"

Summer hadn't changed much either.

Ryan heard a scuffle as Seth jumped off the couch and walked to the door.

"No, I do not want to buy anyth – Oh my God." Seth's voice grew hushed as soon as he raised his head and saw who was standing at the door. "Oh...My...GOD!" Ryan could hear the sound bounce around in the marble foyer. He would have said something just about then, but he soon found out that it was impossible to talk when Seth was jumping on top of him and crushing his rib cages.

"Cohen?" asked Summer. "What is it?"

"Oh my God, Summer!" Seth exclaimed, not letting go of Ryan. "Come and see!"

"Cohennn!" whined Summer. "You KNOW I can't move!"

"Seth, honey, your making a lot of noise – Oh my God." Kirsten stopped halfway to her son, her face suddenly drained of all its colour.

"H-Hi...Kirsten..." Ryan managed to gasp out as he felt his ribs crush under Seth's arm.

"Seth!" exclaimed Kirsten. "Let go of him." When Seth didn't hear her, she pried him off. Spluttering for breath, Ryan managed to say,

"T-Thanks. Hi Seth."

Kirsten walked towards him uncertainly, and touched his shoulder. "You're here." She said.

Ryan nodded.

Kirsten's hand moved up to his face, just so she knew he was real. As soon as she touched it, she hugged him. Not the kind of bone crushing hug that Seth had given him, but a soft, motherly hug. Ryan remembered how much he missed her hugs. Kirsten didn't readily throw away hugs, but when they came, they were as touching as unexpected gold.

"Sandy! Sandy, come in here!" she cried, not letting go of Ryan.

"What – Oh my God." Ryan smiled over Kirsten's shoulder, wondering how many times one family could say that. "I...I'm not sure what shocks me more. Ryan, your back. Kirsten, you're hugging him. Again."

"I missed him so much." She said softly, and as she pulled away Ryan saw a twinkle of a tear growing in the corner of her eye.

"Me too." Said Sandy softly as he went to hug him. Ryan had never had so many hugs in such a short period of time. Seth was bouncing up and down like he had at Chrismukkuh, and Summer had started whining again.

"Cohen!" she yelled. "Something's going on! I have ears you know!"

"Yeah, and a hell of a voice." Shot back Seth.

"Shut up! Who's out there, Cohen?"

"Ryan, man." Said Seth, pulling his father away from Ryan, taking his arm and leading him into the living room. "Meet my wife..."

Ryan's stared at Summer, sitting cross legged on the couch, who took one look at him, her eyes bulging, and screamed, "Chino! Omigod, No way!"

"...And the mother of my future child." Seth continued. "Say hello to Summer Cohen."

**-----------------**

They – Kirsten, Sandy, Seth and Ryan – sat around the breakfast bar holding strong cups of coffee. Summer had declined them, moaning about how she was too fat to move. Seth had muttered to Ryan, "If she doesn't move soon, I think she'll become an elephant." He then had to duck several times to avoid a flying cushion missile that Summer had aimed at his head.

"OK, Ryan, tell us...everything." Kirsten was saying.

"OK." Ryan took a deep breath as he prepared to launch into the matter. "Theresa...Theresa had the baby..."

"Boy or girl?" interrupted Seth.

"Girl." Ryan told him. "Chrissie..."

"Was she yours?" Seth interrupted again.

"As I was about to say...Theresa told me she was mine. And, so, we...We got..." he cleared his throat awkwardly. "...Married."

Seth let out a low and surprised whistle.

"Seth..." started Sandy in a very warning tone.

"Shutting up, shutting up!"

"Keep going, sweetie." Kirsten coaxed.

"Seven years on..." Ryan sighed and held onto his mug a bit tighter. "Theresa's a drunk. She's goes out at night and doesn't come back until around 3 in the morning...I guess I know now that she was just "having fun" and sleeping with some strangers..."

Kirsten looked shocked and Seth opened his mouth to say something, but Sandy took one look at him and he closed it again.

"I'm a lawyer." Ryan said after clearing his throat one more time. He smiled as Sandy and Kirsten beamed at him. "A public defendant." He added, and Sandy's smile grew even larger as he clapped Ryan's back.

"Fantastic!"

"...I had a meeting down here." Ryan continued.

"...And you thought you'd pop in and see your family after, what? Oh yeah, seven years?" asked Seth innocently.

Ryan blushed slightly. "I had a meeting with this guy called Kur – actually, it doesn't matter what he's called. But he offered me a job and..."

For once, Seth didn't make a sound; he just gaped at Ryan as he waited for him to finish.

"...I'm taking it. I'm moving back to Newport."

"Oh, _YES!" _exclaimed Seth, jumping out of his chair, jumping up and down on the spot.

"COHEN!!" screamed Summer. "COOL YOUR JETS!"

Seth sat down.

"What about..." started Sandy, but Kirsten finished it off for him.

"...Theresa? Is she moving down too? And your daughter. Chrissie? Where are you going to stay? Do you have enough money? Can you afford a house? You could stay here if you needed to..."

"Wait." Said Ryan, and Kirsten paused mid-sentence. "It's not that simple. I called Theresa today...turned out that while I've been away, she's been going out and drinking at night. At leaving Chrissie at home by herself."

Kirsten gasped softly. "Is she..."

"Chrissie's fine." Ryan said. "Theresa's been bringing home some of her "friends" as well. Chrissie, thank God, has no idea what's going on...but...Theresa and I are getting a divorce."

"Oh my God." Muttered Kirsten. "What about Chrissie?"

"I'm taking her," said Ryan. "But...When Theresa...When she told me Chrissie was mine...Well, it wasn't that simple..."

"So..." started Seth.

"She lied." Ryan said. "Chrissie isn't my daughter." He sighed and looked down, suddenly feeling very tired. He became aware of the hand stroking his back, and when he looked up he saw Kirsten.

"Sweetie..."

"It doesn't matter." He said, raising his head. "I love her; to me, she's my daughter. I'm taking care of her...she's my responsibility."

"Now you know how we felt." Whispered Kirsten, and she went to hug him again.

Ryan gratefully accepted her hug. "I love you, Kirsten." He told her. "I love all you guys." He said, raising his eyes to Seth and Sandy.

"Excuse me?!" exclaimed Summer from the lounge room.

"Yes, OK, Summer, I even love you. A bit." He added.

As Kirsten pulled away from Ryan, tears glistening in her eyes, Seth started talking again. "Mum, dad, can Ryan live with us again? It'll be like our own little family again..."

"Seth." Interrupted Ryan. "I have a daughter."

"...Our own little _extended _family!"

"Seth, you're mother and I have some things to talk about." Sandy said, standing up and motioning for his wife to join him.

"Oh, come on..."

"Seth, we have some things to talk about." Sandy said firmly, pulling Kirsten out of the kitchen. "You just talk to Ryan, catch up! There's been seven years, you must have something to talk about!" with that, he led his wife up the stairs and out of sight.

"Soo..." said Seth, plonking himself down next to Ryan. "You..." he started.

"Not me." Said Ryan quickly. "_Enough _about me. You."

"Me? Well OK." Said Seth, as though he didn't really object. Ryan smiled. Seth had _definitely _not changed. Ryan knew he'd jump at the chance to talk about himself. After all, so much had happened if seven years. "OK, me..." mused Seth. "Well, after you left...I sailed to Tahiti!"

"You sailed to Tahiti?"

"I sailed to Tahiti."

"Then what?"

"Well, I realised I had so many people that love, treasured and valued me..."

From the lounge room, Summer snorted loudly.

"You know you love me!" Seth exclaimed, and Ryan's expression became amused. "...So I came back." He went on. "Summer, she was with some guy called Zach at that time, but of course, she couldn't resist the Cohen charm..."

Summer snorted again.

"If you've got something to say, would you like to say it in here, my darling?" asked Seth, getting no reply from his wife. "...And, we got back together."

"When did you get married?" Ryan asked.

"The end of last year." Said Seth.

"And she's pregnant?" said Ryan.

"Hey, Theresa was pregnant _before _you married _her." _Seth said.

"Not my kid!" pointed out Ryan.

"Oh, right..." said Seth. "Anyway..." he lowered his voice. "Do you remember when my dad told me that the Cohen's were "very sexual creatures"?"

Ryan nodded slowly, not exactly liking where this was going.

"Man, this is the first time I've ever admitted he was right, but he was so right!" exclaimed Seth.

Ryan raised his eyebrows. "So it got...better? Since Valentines Day?"

"Are you kidding!" Seth said. "It's amazing...Dude, Nemo finally found his way home! It's like..." he would have launched into explicit detail about his sexual exploitations right there in the kitchen if it wasn't for his wife in the next room.

"Cohen!" screeched Summer. "I can hear you, you know! If you don't stop talking about our sex life right now, I will personally make sure that you will never have any sex life to talk about again!"

"My parents are upstairs!" whined Seth.

"Shh." Ryan said. "Hey, man, I need to tell you something."

"What?" asked Seth. "But I wasn't done talking about me..."

"Seth." Said Ryan. "Enough about you. This is about Marissa..."

"Coop?"

Ryan could hear the surprise in Summer's voice.

"If you're gunna talk about Coop, come in here." She said.

Ryan shrugged and followed Seth into the lounge room, where he sat down in an armchair, Seth joining Summer on the couch.

"Did you see Coop?" asked Summer anxiously.

"Yeah, and I needed to ask you if you know anything about..." Ryan began, but Summer interrupted him.

"Hey, Chino, I don't know anything about Coop anymore."

Ryan recoiled at her statement. "Y-You don't?" he stuttered.

Summer shook her head slowly. "After you left...Marissa, she turned into...well, into a..."

"Total drunk." Seth finished off helpfully.

"Yeah." Said Ryan in a what's-new kind of voice. "So..."

"No, I mean, a _total _drunk." Summer said. "Like, 24/7? Her mum sent her off to even more shrinks and...Well, eventually, we just..." Summer shrugged. "We just stopped hanging out."

"Just like that?" asked Ryan.

"Well, we had a huge fight. I found her in the bathroom one time. She had snuck some vodka into a party in her purse..."

Ryan suddenly felt a bad case of déjà vu.

"...And she had pills."

Ryan looked up in shock. "Pills?"

Summer nodded slowly. "Yeah. She was passed out by the time I got to her. Chino, it was like Tijuana all over again." Summer was becoming obviously distressed by the memory, and Seth put his arm around her shoulder to comfort her.

"What happened?" asked Ryan.

"I called 911, and...Well, she was OK. Kind of. Then, he mum came."

"Ah."

"Yeah, ah. Julie sent her of to rehab for six months."

"Oh wow. I bet she hated her."

"Actually..." Summer said. "She hated me more."

"What'd you..."

"I dunno. She said it was my fault, and if I'd just left her there to...to die!" Summer spat the words out viciously, tears starting to gather in her eyes. Seth rubbed her shoulder. "...Then she wouldn't have to go! That she'd be dead and she wouldn't have to live with it anymore."

"What happened?" asked Ryan lightly.

"She went off to rehab and...When she came back...She was just so...so different. She wouldn't talk to me. She wouldn't talk to anyone. And eventually we just...we just stopped seeing each other."

"Pretty much." Said Seth.

All of a sudden, Summer started crying. She just broke down and sobbed, right on Seth's shoulder. "It was all my fault!" she exclaimed. "All...My...Fault!"

"Shh, Summer, shhh, sweetie." Seth soothed her calmly, rubbing her back and kissing the top of her head. "It's not your fault, it's OK..."

"I love you, Cohen." she exclaimed suddenly. Ryan's eyes widened in shock at her statement. Only a few minutes ago, he had been her human dartboard. Ryan looked at him questionably.

"Hey, man, she's pregnant," claimed Seth. "Hormones, flying everywhere." As if just to prove his point, Summer sat up and hit him.

"Jerk!" she exclaimed angrily, sitting up straight again and crossing her arms. Ryan still looked shocked, but Seth didn't seem to notice.

"The point is, we haven't seen Marissa for years Ryan." Summer finished. "When did you see her? I mean, is she...Is she OK? She's not..." she couldn't finish, but Ryan knew what she meant. "Is she?"

"No." Ryan told her. "She's fine. And guess what her job is?" he asked. "She's a shrink."

Summer's eyes grew wide and Seth snorted with laughter. "That is totally stuffed up." He said.

"Yeah. Anyway, we met yesterday." Ryan didn't define to them that "met" actually meant "went and had sex in a motel".

"And..." said Seth expectantly.

"And what?" Ryan asked, blushing. "And nothing! We met, that's it. OK?" He took a deep breath. "And then, I had my job interview. And Kurt..."

"Kurt?"

"Kurt. My new boss? Offered me a job."

"I don't see the problem." Seth said, slightly confused, and for once, Summer agreed with him.

"Yeah. Me neither."

"Kurt..." said Ryan, sighing. "Is Marissa's fiancée."

Seth whistled, but was drowned out my Summer's screeches. "_WHAT?" _She exclaimed. _"_Coop's getting _MARRIED?"_

"To your BOSS!" exclaimed Seth, noticeably excited at this new cause for sarcastic remarks.

"And it's NOT funny." Ryan told him.

"Something else happened." Said Summer quietly. The room was instantly washed over in awkward silence.

"Um...what?" asked Ryan.

"Something else happened." Repeated Summer. "I can see it. What'd you do?"

"I...I..." Ryan stuttered as he felt Summer's eyes glare through him. Her dark brown eyes weren't as penetrating as Marissa's piercing blue pair, but Ryan knew that Summer could see through to his secret. "Nothing _happened!" _he said, hopelessly trying to defend himself.

"Yes it did..." said Summer, still trying to put the pieces together. She looked into Ryan's eyes... "Oh my God." She muttered.

"What?" asked Seth.

"You guys Did It." Summer whispered. Ryan's eyes bulged...how the hell had she figured it out?

"I...I..."

"You guys Did It, didn't you!" Summer exclaimed, more loudly this time. Seth's grin grew even bigger as he, too, figured out what was going on. Ryan looked down, not wanting to admit it.

"So _that's _why it's such a big deal!" said Seth happily. Ryan slowly nodded. "Oh man. That is some _deep _shit you're in there dude." He said wisely.

"Thanks, Seth." Muttered Ryan, running his fingers through his hair.

"I _knew _being pregnant would be useful!" exclaimed Summer brightly. "It's like I have a sixth sense now!" Seth opened his mouth to make another smart remark, but was cut short when Sandy and Kirsten entered the room.

"We've been talking..." Sandy began.

"And we think..." Kirsten continued.

"Ryan can live with us again?" said Seth hopefully. Kirsten rolled her eyes.

"Way to spoil the moment, Seth."

"Hey!" exclaimed Seth. "I was joking. You guys mean it?"

Sandy sighed and sat down in the spare chair, while Kirsten remained standing.

"Ryan, we..." she started.

"No." said Ryan.

"What?" asked Sandy. "No?"

"I couldn't make you do that."

"Ryan, listen..." Kirsten tried to say.

"It'd be too hard..."

"Ryan!" exclaimed Kirsten. Finally he was quiet, waiting expectantly for her to talk. "Listen. We want you to live with us again."

"My new company was going to set me up with a house."

"Ryan, you have no money. No furniture. And now you have to support your daughter. All by yourself."

"I've done it before. Theresa never helped in Chino. We always had to get her mother to baby-sit her while I worked."

"Ryan." Said Kirsten kindly. "Theresa's mum isn't in Newport. _Your _mum is in Newport." She finished softly. Ryan turned to look at her in surprise, his sparkling blue eyes looking at her questionably.

"You mean it?" he whispered.

"I mean it Ryan." Said Kirsten, smiling at him. "We want to help. We want to see our granddaughter. She's our granddaughter, no matter what you say. We can take care of her after school..."

"I can help." Offered Summer eagerly. "I mean, I better get used to kids, right?" she asked, looking at her stomach meaningfully. "We can shop! She could be like, my new best friend, now I'm stuck around the house all day..."

"Hey, Sum, you have me!" said Seth.

"You're my husband, that's different. I need another girl to shop with, I can teach her everything I know about Newport..."

"Uh, Summer?" asked Ryan. "She's seven."

"Yeah, so?"

"...The point is," interrupted Kirsten again. "We want you to move in again. You can stay in the poolhouse again..." Ryan smiled. "...And Chrissie could have the spare room."

"But..." stuttered Ryan. "It's just too much. I mean, you have enough people here already..." he looked meaningfully at Seth and Summer.

"It's a big house!" said Sandy brightly. "The more the merrier! We could use the extra life."

"What, I'm not life enough?" asked Seth in mock hurt.

Everyone laughed, as Seth looked around in confusement "What?"

"Please, Ryan?" asked Kirsten, and Ryan suddenly became very aware of the four pairs of eyes boring into him.

"Would it...Would it really be best?" he asked. "For Chrissie?"

Seth answered before anyone else. "Ryan, man, the kids live in Chino his whole life. I can teach her the Seth Cohen sense of humour!"

"God no, we get enough of that from you." Objected Summer.

"Hey, Ryan, it worked for you, didn't it?" asked Seth.

"Yeah, and great lot of good did it me." Said Ryan sarcastically as he rolled his eyes.

"Ha!" exclaimed Seth. "See, see?" he asked everyone. "That...was thanks to me!"

"OK, Cohen, we're all getting tired of your voice now." Said Summer.

"This girls a lifesaver." Sandy said, turning to Ryan. "I don't know what we'd do without her."

Summer beamed around the room as Seth scowled.

"Is it always like this around here?" Ryan asked.

Kirsten nodded. "At first, I had a permanent headache, but it goes away after the first couple of days." She added brightly.

Ryan grinned. "Then how can I turn it down?"


End file.
